Jake Marriott and Wes Berry each flew nearly 5,000 miles to run 33. For Shaun Rooney, the trip took him across the United States.
The trio of former Oak Harbor High School track and cross country athletes returned to Washington to join three other teammates, Eric Smith and Jason Jamerson, now of Everett, and Brian Tyhuis of Oak Harbor, to compete in the Northwest Passage Ragnar Relay July 15 and 16.
They came, however, to do more than just run the grueling race. They came to honor their high school coach, Eric Lindberg, who died Feb. 9, 2015.
And they came to fulfill a dream — literally.
The Ragnar Relay series features 18 different road races sprinkled across the Unites States. One, the Northwest Passage, covers 200 miles from Blaine to Langley. Most Ragnar Relay teams include 12 runners; some go ultra, doing the distance with only six. That is what the former Wildcats decided to do, a punishing 33 miles each spread over six legs, all in about 30 hours.
Marriott came from Peru, Berry from Japan and Rooney from Virginia. Such was the draw of honoring Lindberg.
The idea for the tribute came from a dream Keira Jamerson, Jason’s wife and Marriott’s sister, had during last year’s relay.
She woke about 2 a.m. Saturday morning to tell her husband and brother about the vision for honoring Lindberg as an ultra team. Jason Jamerson and Marriott, weary from running all day Friday and rummy from a lack of sleep, were preparing for the second day of the 2015 event. In that foggy state, they agreed it was a great idea. Little did they know how difficult running as an ultra team would be.
When Marriott posted the idea on Facebook, the six-man team was filled almost instantly as Berry, Rooney, Smith and Tyhius jumped aboard.
“This was something for coach Lindberg,” Berry said. “It wasn’t something to be missed.”
Since Tyhuis was the first to signup and conveniently lived in Oak Harbor, he became the team captain “by default,” he said, and handled most of the paperwork and organization for the team, which they labeled “Lindberg’s Legs.”
All competed for Lindberg and OHHS in the mid to late 1990s.
“We are all from the same era, keep in contact and are still tight,” Smith said. “We just wanted to do something to honor him.”
In separate interviews, each runner said they wanted to honor Lindberg because he taught them to be “men of character.”
All mentioned how Lindberg stressed honesty, loyalty, respect and responsibility.
“He prepared us for life,” Marriott said. “He was an honorable man who loved his boys. We remained friends for life.”
“It was a way to mourn and a way to celebrate what he did for us,” Tyhuis said. “We really wanted to do something for Barbara (Lindberg’s wife), too. She was a big part of it.”
Keira Jameson, who drove the van during this year’s relay, never ran for coach Lindberg, but she attended all her brother’s high school events, prepared spaghetti dinners for the team on the eve of meets and handed out treats afterward. This drew her near to Lindberg and his family.
“As time passed, we became adult friends,” she said. “I have always been inspired by Eric and Barbara as a couple, the respect and love they shared with each other and others.”
Barbara Lindberg, along with son Chris, daughter Erin and their families, thanked the six and their friends and families at the end of the race with a picnic. Craig Pedlar and Pat Wagner, former members of coach Lindberg’s coaching staff, also took part.
Barbara Lindberg said she “just cried” when she heard about the six running to honor her husband.
“I love these guys, who are now men, like my sons,” she said. “The love they have for Eric goes beyond. Our whole family is so thankful for and appreciative of them; they are a blessing to us all.”
The group hopes to make this a yearly event but with the more traditional 12-man team in the future.
Running as an ultra team was brutal and three of the six were injured, forcing the others to pick up some extra miles. As a result, Tyhuis and Jamerson each ran more that 40 miles.
They ran to honor Lindberg and all that he taught them. Ironically, it was those lessons that inspired them to finish what they started.
With all the injuries, the group discussed quitting the race.
“We wanted to be smart about it, to be adults about it,” Marriott said. “But we realized we needed to finish for Coach.”
Keira Jamerson quoted Berry, who said, “We came too far to give up; we are not going to let Coach down.”
From that point, some walked on injured legs and some ran backward to ease leg cramps — anything necessary to reach the finish line.
The exterior of the team van was decorated with Lindberg’s favorite inspirational sayings. One prominently displayed said, “Tough guys win.”
Lindberg often asked his athletes: “Who do you want to be in the trenches with?”
Lindberg emphasized that cross country, like life, was a team sport. Do whatever it takes to help your teammate finish.
The six realized it was time to put those slogans to work.
“Everyone had to go beyond what they could,” Marriott said. “It wasn’t for the pizza, beer or barbecue at the end. It wasn’t just for Coach, either. It was for each other.”
And Coach wouldn’t want it any other way.
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In the first photo below, the team crosses the finish line in Langley. The runners decorated their van with inspirational sayings by Lindberg and the quote by Billy Graham shown in the second photograph.
